The Eyes | The eyes can be the window to the soul, so help your peepers shine on your big day with some of these tips and advice! Remember, you can do your own makeup or hire an artist–it’s all in what you want and what works best for your event. When hiring a makeup artist, make sure you know what they will provide you in a touch-up kit so that you can reapply as you need throughout the event. It is also a good idea to be able to do a test run with the artist. These are all things to look for in a good, knowledgeable artist! Oh, and don’t be shy–if you have a look you want to do or an idea in your head, don’t be afraid to tell your makeup artist what you have in mind.

Start With a Base! It is important that no matter what look you go for, if you are planning to wear eyeshadow, wear a base. Layering shadows on top of a product designed to help increase the lasting power of your eyeshadow is imperative. You don’t want to find that your eye makeup has moved all over the place or creased throughout the reception! I adore Soft Ochre paint pot by MAC as my base of choice, but cult favorite Urban Decay Primer Potion is a good choice, too.

Color? It is really important that you think about what your usual makeup style is and what exactly you want to reflect in your wedding photographs. Even though I personally wear colors from bright blue to yellow on my eyes, I know that I would want to opt for less color and something more natural/neutral. I also think that part of deciding colors is thinking about coordinating with both your dress, bouquet, and overall theme/feel of the wedding. Is your wedding a traditional church affair? If so, going for soft beiges and taupes makes a lot of sense. Going to Vegas with Elvis as your preacher? You just may want to have some fun and go for fun, glittery falsies!

Shimmer? Frost? Matte? I think light or low-level sheen/shimmer can be good to accent the lid and also the brow bone as a highlight, but nothing high in frost. If it’s too frosty, it can reflect badly in photos–especially on the brow bone (as the lid is not usually as visible when your eyes are open). One tip I can definitely offer is that using a matte color in the crease helps add dimension to your look and depth to your eye area.

To Line or Not to Line? If you’re going to line, choose something that is going to withstand tearing, both for upper lash lining and lower lash lining. One of my favorite products that I know will not budge are MAC Liquid Last Liners. These will not move a single inch without a good oil-based makeup remover–seriously, when they first came out, I tested their lasting power and swatched it on my skin, and it didn’t start to fade until 48 hours later. If you are opting for a more natural look, I do suggest thinking about using a brown liner over black, for something subtle and less bold (but I also love black liner, and I think it is quite suiting for natural looks, too!).

Tearproof Mascara! Waterproof, smudgeproof, and tearproof! One of my favorite mascaras that really holds up is Clinique Lash Power (and right now, if you test-drive it, you can get a free Lash Power Mascara to try!), which is designed to take on humidity, tears, sweat, you name it and come out on top. I’ve tried it (and put it to the test!), and I can tell you it is Temptalia approved! One quick and easy tip to minimize smudging is to avoid applying mascara to bottom lashes, because tears flow downwards more often than not and can easily make a mess of lower lashes with mascara (but again, I recommend a waterproof/smudgeproof mascara, and then you won’t have to worry at all!).

The Brows Have It! Many believe that one of the key pieces to looking polished and put together are well-groomed and shaped brows. If you have never touched your lashes (bless you!), get yourself to a professional salon/brow guru and have them find the optimal shape for you. I wish I didn’t tweeze (or have my friend tweeze) mine so thin when I was a teen, now I don’t have much to work with! For those ladies like me, I totally recommend Anastasia’s “Tweezers Anonymous” brow kit, which includes stencils, brow filler, and gel to help brows grow back.

Regardless, if you do not have naturally thick brows, filling sparse areas with product is an excellent idea. I prefer using something simple like a powder eyeshadow (love MAC Espresso and Brun) or brow kits like Benefit’s BrowZings or Urban Decay’s Brow Box (I prefer this because it has clear wax, rather than colored, for a brow kit!). If using a powder, try using an angled brush like MAC’s 266. It’s great for perfecting brows (and lining!). For those who prefer brow pencils, forge on, but I definitely recommend taking a clean, disposable mascara wand and brushing it through your brows. This helps to groom them, but it also makes sure that your brows do not look harsh from the pencil! I also like MAC’s Clear Brow Set for keeping those well-groomed and shaped brows in place.

25 Comments

Discussion and debate are highly encouraged, and we expect community members to participate respectfully. When asking a question, please check the post above for information regarding pricing, availability, dupes, and availability, and keep discussion on-topic. If you have general feedback, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us.

Comments that include advertisements, self-promotion, insults, etc. may be in violation of our comment policy and subject to deletion. Please see our comment policy for more information.

To be honest, I’ve always used Studio Fix Fluid, and it hasn’t caused me reflecting problems when I’ve gone to get photographed. However, I do like MAC’s Face & Body if you have normal skin that doesn’t need a ton of coverage.

I like Invisible Set (PRO product) for setting. I also like MUFE’s Super Matte Loose Powder & Laura Mercier’s Finishing Powder. MUFE’s Mat+ Velvet is also a nice foundation (similar to SFF without SPF!).

Thanks (again) so much, Christine! For the user above, I think Koren (EnKore) recommended Mac Stick (cream) foundation because it reflects the least. I will probably go to pick one of those up for my engagement photos. Your tip about the matte colour in crease is awesome! Thanks again!

My biggest suggestion is using a gel or liquid liner and then setting with powder. You may want to use a sealer – like She-Laq by Benefit, too. Keeping it OFF your waterline, is also good, just because the waterline waters on it own, let alone getting teary.

Another way to make your face look “dressed-up” beautiful without over doing it is to wear natural-looking false eye-lashes. I wore MAC #3’s (I think…maybe it was #4…I forget). I wear full done make-up everyday and almost never do neutral…so to be able to look like my “normal/natural” self on my wedding day, I had to do bold make-up in neutral colors. And the lashes are just enhancing – like the kind of thing that people can’t pinpoint, but makes you look gorgeous, you know? I HIGHLY recommend it! My pictures came out BEAUTIFUL!!

Your mentioning of tear-proof mascara got me thinking. When I cry it makes very noticeable zebra-like streaks of my blush. Any suggestions on how to combat this? Are cream blushes more tear-resistant than powder? I won’t be getting married for a couple years, but I am in a long distance relationship full of painful goodbyes (he’s in the military).

Great article! I think that a lot of the information here will be a great help! I also found these articles to have some good information also that you might find interesting. For some reason, I have found that these are two of the most difficult areas to find good, reliable information on. If you know of any others, please let me know.

I’m 24 and Avon is the greatest discovery of my life.
Reese Witherspoon just jumped on board and I love her.
They even have a magalog called mark. that is one of Lauren Conrad’s (from the Hills) favorites she is even the cover model.
Shop both Avon and mark.

my eyebrows look chalky no matter what i use. i was using the dior brow pencil and then i switched to the mac brow powder in charcoal. i’ve just started using a brow gel and it still makes my eyebrows like chalky. can u tell me i can use to make them look more natural??